diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 56901a44412d..74c98b1c790f 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -43,13 +43,20 @@ env:
     - secure: RgJI7BBL8aX5FTOQe7xiXqWHMxWokd6GNUWp1NUV2mRLXPb9dI0RXqZt3UJwKTAzf1z/OtlHDmEkBoTVK81E9iUxK5npwyyjhJ8yTJmwfQtQF2n51Q1Ww9p+XSLORrOzZc7kAo6Kw6FIXN1pfctgYq2bQkrwJPRx/oPR8f6hcbY=
     - secure: E7OCdqhZ+PlwJcn+Hd6ns9TDJgEUXiUNEI0wu7xjxB2vBRRIKtZMbuaZjd+iKDqCKuVOJKu0ClBUYxmgmpLicTwi34CfTUYt6D4uhrU+8hBBOn1iiK51cl/aBvlUUrqaRLVhukNEBGZcyqAjXSA/Qsnp2iELEmAfOUa92ZYo1sk=
     - secure: "dfjNqGKzQG5bu3FnDNwLG8H/C4QoieFo4PfFmZPdM2RY7WIzukwKFNT6kiDfOrpwt+2bR7FhzjOGlDECGtlGOtYPN8XuXGjhcP4a4IfakdbDfF+D3NPIpf5VlE6776k0VpvcZBTMYJKNFIMc7QPkOwjvNJ2aXyfe3hBuGlKJzQU="
+    - CYCLER=cycler
+    - DATEUTIL=python-dateutil
+    - MOCK=
+    - NOSE=
     - NUMPY=numpy
-    - OPENBLAS_NUM_THREADS=1
     - PANDAS=
+    - PYPARSING=pyparsing
+    - PYTEST=pytest!=3.3.0
+    - PYTEST_COV=pytest-cov
+    - PYTEST_PEP8=
+    - SPHINX=sphinx
+    - OPENBLAS_NUM_THREADS=1
     - NPROC=2
-    - INSTALL_PEP8=
     - RUN_PEP8=
-    - NOSE=
     - PYTEST_ARGS="-rawR --maxfail=50 --timeout=300 --durations=25 --cov-report= --cov=lib -n $NPROC"
     - PYTHON_ARGS=
     - DELETE_FONT_CACHE=
@@ -57,11 +64,22 @@ env:
 matrix:
   include:
     - python: 2.7
-      env: MOCK=mock NUMPY=numpy==1.7.1 PANDAS=pandas NOSE=nose
+      # pytest-cov>=2.3.1 due to https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest-cov/issues/124.
+      env:
+        - CYCLER=cycler==0.10
+        - DATEUTIL=python-dateutil==2.1
+        - MOCK=mock
+        - NOSE=nose
+        - NUMPY=numpy==1.7.1
+        - PANDAS='pandas<0.21.0'
+        - PYPARSING=pyparsing==2.0.1
+        - PYTEST=pytest==3.1.0
+        - PYTEST_COV=pytest-cov==2.3.1
+        - SPHINX=sphinx==1.3
     - python: 3.4
       env: PYTHON_ARGS=-OO
     - python: 3.6
-      env: DELETE_FONT_CACHE=1 INSTALL_PEP8=pytest-pep8 RUN_PEP8=--pep8 PANDAS=pandas
+      env: DELETE_FONT_CACHE=1 PANDAS='pandas<0.21.0' PYTEST_PEP8=pytest-pep8 RUN_PEP8=--pep8
     - python: "nightly"
       env: PRE=--pre
     - os: osx
@@ -108,8 +126,11 @@ install:
     # Upgrade pip and setuptools and wheel to get as clean an install as possible
     pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
   - |
-    # Install dependencies from pypi
+    # Install dependencies from PyPI
     pip install --upgrade $PRE \
+        codecov \
+        coverage \
+        $CYCLER \
         $MOCK \
         $NOSE \
         $NUMPY \
@@ -117,7 +138,9 @@ install:
         codecov \
         coverage \
         pillow \
-        sphinx
+        $PYPARSING \
+        $DATEUTIL \
+        $SPHINX
     # GUI toolkits are pip-installable only for some versions of Python so
     # don't fail if we can't install them.  Make it easier to check whether the
     # install was successful by trying to import the toolkit (sometimes, the
@@ -134,15 +157,14 @@ install:
       echo 'wxPython is available' ||
       echo 'wxPython is not available'
 
-    # pytest-cov>=2.3.1 due to https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest-cov/issues/124
     pip install $PRE \
-        pytest!=3.3.0 \
-        pytest-cov>=2.3.1 \
+        $PYTEST \
+        $PYTEST_COV \
         pytest-faulthandler \
+        $PYTEST_PEP8 \
         pytest-rerunfailures \
         pytest-timeout \
-        pytest-xdist \
-        $INSTALL_PEP8
+        pytest-xdist
 
     # Use the special local version of freetype for testing
     cp ci/travis/setup.cfg .
diff --git a/INSTALL.rst b/INSTALL.rst
index 0143329a61ae..68f669da18a0 100644
--- a/INSTALL.rst
+++ b/INSTALL.rst
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ Matplotlib requires a large number of dependencies:
   * `Python <https://www.python.org/downloads/>`_ (>= 2.7 or >= 3.4)
   * `NumPy <http://www.numpy.org>`_ (>= |minimum_numpy_version|)
   * `setuptools <https://setuptools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>`__
-  * `dateutil <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/python-dateutil>`_ (>= 2.0)
+  * `dateutil <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/python-dateutil>`_ (>= 2.1)
   * `pyparsing <https://pyparsing.wikispaces.com/>`__
   * `libpng <http://www.libpng.org>`__ (>= 1.2)
   * `pytz <http://pytz.sourceforge.net/>`__
diff --git a/doc/devel/contributing.rst b/doc/devel/contributing.rst
index e77e667b313a..e334371f3d93 100644
--- a/doc/devel/contributing.rst
+++ b/doc/devel/contributing.rst
@@ -152,8 +152,8 @@ environment is set up properly::
 
 .. note::
 
-  **Additional dependencies for testing**: pytest_ (version 3.0 or later),
-  mock_ (if python < 3.3), Ghostscript_, Inkscape_
+  **Additional dependencies for testing**: pytest_ (version 3.1 or later),
+  mock_ (if Python 2), Ghostscript_, Inkscape_
 
 .. seealso::
 
diff --git a/doc/devel/testing.rst b/doc/devel/testing.rst
index d5ed965cc7d5..92e125bcf7de 100644
--- a/doc/devel/testing.rst
+++ b/doc/devel/testing.rst
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@ local FreeType build
 
 The following software is required to run the tests:
 
-  - pytest_, version 3.0.0 or later
-  - mock_, when running Python versions < 3.3
+  - pytest_ (>=3.1)
+  - mock_, when running Python 2
   - Ghostscript_ (to render PDF files)
   - Inkscape_ (to render SVG files)
 
 Optionally you can install:
 
-  - pytest-cov_ to collect coverage information
+  - pytest-cov_ (>=2.3.1) to collect coverage information
   - pytest-pep8_ to test coding standards
   - pytest-timeout_ to limit runtime in case of stuck tests
   - pytest-xdist_ to run tests in parallel
diff --git a/setupext.py b/setupext.py
index 378b366f0c0e..d62ffbe6cf79 100644
--- a/setupext.py
+++ b/setupext.py
@@ -798,7 +798,7 @@ def get_namespace_packages(self):
 
 class Tests(OptionalPackage):
     name = "tests"
-    pytest_min_version = '3.0.0'
+    pytest_min_version = '3.1'
     default_config = False
 
     def check(self):
@@ -1465,7 +1465,7 @@ def get_install_requires(self):
         install_requires = [
             "cycler>=0.10",
             "pyparsing>=2.0.1,!=2.0.4,!=2.1.2,!=2.1.6",
-            "python-dateutil>=2.0",
+            "python-dateutil>=2.1",
             "pytz",
             "six>=1.10",
         ]